Friday, November 21, 2008

Amelia Island - Thursday

Having arrived back in Florida we have camped at Fort Clinch State Park, about as far north as you can get in Florida, and it feels it. This morning (Friday) I got up early to take pics. of the dawn and there was a biting North wind, you could feel the Canadian prairies in it (Does Canada have prairies?), I am getting ahead of myself here. We are always trying to rest, relax and do nothing, however we get bored and interesting things appear, so we do them. On Thursday we had a quick look at the beach, which was as interesting as sand dunes and a sandy beach, which stretches for miles can be. I walked along the water line a bit, picked up a couple of giant pink barnacle shells, a conch, saw a jelly fish, some King Crabs, pelicans, then an Osprey stooping to catch a fish. The damage caused by Fay (as informed by the Ranger) was evident in the eroded dunes. While Sally watched from a bench very conveniently placed at the end of the boardwalk. Very pleasant.
In the afternoon we wandered over to Fort Clinch, which is a very well preserved 19 C fort in the state park. We tagged on to a group of OSHER students (a bit like our University of the Third Age) as they were given a guided tour by a weather beaten old sargeant from the civil war. He was a most excellent guide. He gave us a real insight into life in the fort, transporting us back 1864 when the New York Corps of Engineers liberated the fort from the confederates. He gave us lots of detail about the rations, clothes, the place of women in the fort, the hospital and the jail. Very informative, one of the best tours we have had (and we have donea few this vacation).
It had been a very clear and sunny day and relatively warm, so after a 'cup' of chilli we lit a camp fire and sat out for an hour or two. Planning our day for Friday when we would assault the main street of Historic Fernandina.

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